Woodstock eyes future of Comeau property's trail system

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. -- Supporters of the Comeau property trails have begun looking at the next generation of users to be certain treks through the woods remain safe.

Trails Task Force member James Hanson noted during a Town Board meeting last week that the work is never-ending because walking areas are impacted by use and by plant growth when unused.

"If they're not used they deteriorate," he said.

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Hanson said work during the past two years has been set back by tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy last year.

"Our plans for (2011) were sort of short-circuited," he said. "The western loop was what we were focusing on and the main part of the project that we wanted to do was put in bog ridges ... so people could walk through the swamp without walking in the swamp and being up to their ankles in mud."

Committee members expect to work on a section of the David Corbett Loop to resolve tripping hazards.

"The motto the Trails Task Force has gone by all along is 'resource protection and user experience" where we want people to have a pleasant time but we want to protect the resource," Hanson said.

"This year what is planned is to refurbish the trail between the bog bridges and the board walk ... at the western end," he said. "Those are trails which are heavily rooted. The way you have to do that is so that maintenance works is you have to put down some sort of stone up to the level of the roots ... and then cover it with wood chips."

Officials spent years developing a plan for use of the 76-acre property, which has created an approval system for all projects planned for the trails.

People wishing to volunteer for work on the trails should call Hanson at (845) 679-8934.